Load-handling appliance

ABSTRACT

Load-handling appliance by means of which loads can be moved around, and raised and lowered smoothly when required. The load is supported by a number of assemblies, each of which can be removed from the load when this has been moved into the required position. Each assembly has means, operated by an electric motor, for raising or lowering a load-engaging part relative to a ground engaging part, and these motors can all be controlled by a single control system to effect smooth handling of the load.

United States Patent [1 1 Blanc June 3, 1975 1 1 LOAD-HANDLING APPLIANCE [76] Inventor: Henri Blane, 21 Boulevard de Beausejour, Paris l6eme, France [22] Filed: Jan. 9, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 431,969

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 10, 1973 France 73.00753 [52] US. Cl. 280/4311; 280/4323; 214/390 [51] Int. Cl B62121 61/12 [58] Field of Search 214/390; 280/4321, 43.22, 280/4323; 180/26 A, 66 F; 254/86 R, 87;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,014,470 1/1912 Heer 280/4321 3,041 ,083 6/1962 Blane 3,183,609 5/1965 Tourneau 280/4323 5/1969 Rutledge 254/86 R 10/1971 Allen 180/66 F Primary Examiner-Robert .1. Spar Assistant Examiner-Gary Auton Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Waters, Schwartz & Nissen [5 7 1 ABSTRACT Load-handling appliance by means of which loads can be moved around, and raised and lowered smoothly when required.

The load is supported by a number of assemblies, each of which can be removed from the load when this has been moved into the required position. Each assembly has means, operated by an electric motor, for raising or lowering a load-engagingpart relative to a ground engaging part, and these motors can all be controlled by a single control system to effect smooth handling of the load.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures mggwgmutza :ers 3.887.209

saw 1 LOAD-HANDLING APPLIANCE This invention relates to load-handling appliances which may be used for example, for loading a container into an aircraft hold.

Some existing load-handling appliances comprise a series of mobile assemblies adapted to be secured to the corners of the load to be shifted. Each such mobile assembly includes a bracket which can both swivel about a vertical axle fixed to the load and slide along this axle, and a sleeve adapted to pivot in relation to said bracket, a support member being slidably mounted in said sleeve and being fast with a rack bar engaging with a worm the axle of which is supported by the sleeve.

However, the worms have until now, been operated manually. and it is very difficult on this account to synchronise the manipulation thereof. which is essential if the load is to be kept horizontal while being raised or lowered.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an improvement in load-handling appliances ofthe foregoing type which will obviate this drawback.

According to the present invention. a load-handling appliance comprises a plurality of mobile assemblies adapted to be secured to the load. each assembly including:

a bracket;

a vertical axle fast with the load about which the bracket can swivel and along which the bracket can slide;

means for securing said bracket to said axle against said sliding movement;

a worm gear;

a sleeve parallel with said vertical axle. attached to and adapted to pivot relatively to said bracket and to support the worm gear;

a rack bar for engagement with the worm gear;

a support member slidably mounted in said sleeve; and being fast with the rack bar, and

an electric motor speed-reducer assembly with an output shaft to which the worm gear is coupled.

Under these conditions, each of the supporting legs is raised or lowered by simply actuating a push-button so that it is very easy to raise or lower all of them simultaneously and thus keep the load perfectly horizontal.

The worm can be located very close to the support member carrying the rack bar. this member preventing the motor speed-reducing assembly from being positioned along the axis of the worm. It would be possible to mount the motor speed-reducing assembly obliquely relatively to this worm and connect the latter to the output shaft of the assembly by means of a Cardan joint; equally it would be possible to locate the assembly alongside the worm and connect the latter to the output shaft of the assembly by means of an oblique shaft and two Cardan joints. However use of the Cardan joint or joints entails a transmission power loss. Besides, when the load is transported on a truck and the current feeding the motor speed-reducing assembly comes from the truck battery, it is just as well that the output shaft of the speed reducer should be laterally offset from the input shaft, which enables said output shaft to be coupled directly to the worm.

With correct manufacturing tolerances, it may happen that when a bracket is in its uppermost position on its support member, the part of the speed reducer casing which is coaxial with the worm, comes into frictional contact with said member. In order to avoid this nuisance, the motor speed-reducer assembly can be pivotably mounted by means of an eccentric collar, coaxial with the axis of the joint between the bracket and the sleeve; the clearance can be adjusted by rotating this collar so that there is no frictional contact between the speed reducer casing and the support member.

The output shaft of the speed reducer can also be connected to the worm by means of a coupling sleeve fixed to one only of these members, for example to the output shaft, and the upper part of the pivotable mounting of the motor speed-reducer assembly includes an extension upon which the eccentric collar is slidably mounted and which is equipped with means for locking the collar in its upper position; said means consisting for example of a pin fixed diametrally across the pivot pin of the pivotable mounting and adapted to pass through two longitudinal grooves in the eccentric collar when the latter is rotated into the appropriate position.

In order to disengage the worm and the motor speedreducer assembly, it is then merely necessary to raise the latter. The coupling sleeve comes away from the worm and the pin passes through the collar. For the purpose of locking the assembly in the disengaged position, the collar is rotated so that the pin can no longer pass through it, leaving the assembly resting on the pin.

An embodiment of a load-handling appliance according to the invention will now be described purely by way of example in the following, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a container equipped with the load-handling appliance according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a detail on a larger scale; and

FIG. 3 is a view from below of the eccentric collar.

FIG. 1 shows a container 1 at each corner of which is located a mobile assembly designated generally by the reference numeral 2.

Each assembly 2 consists of a bracket 3 adapted to pivot around an axle 4 which is fixed to the container 1 by lugs 5, said bracket also being adapted to slide over said axle; pins 6 enable the bracket 3 to be fixed in the bottom position shown in drawing. A sleeve 7 slidably mounted on a tubular support 8 optionally equipped with a swivelling wheel 9, is connected by arms 10 to a second sleeve 11 adapted to pivot relatively to the bracket 3, about an axis 12. A worm 13 mounted on the arm 10, engages with a rack bar 14 integral with the tubular support 8.

In order to load the container 1 into the hold of an aircraft for example, it is brought near the hold on its wheels 9. The pins 6 are withdrawn from one of the two brackets 3 adjacent to the hold so as to raise this bracket, the height of the tubular support being adjusted relatively to the bracket by rotating the worm 13 so that the wheel thereof is level with the floor of the hold, the bracket of the wheel 9 of which thus comes to rest on the floor of the hold, is lowered towards the interior of the hold. The same procedure is followed with the other bracket adjacent the hold, thus enabling the container 1 two wheels of which now rest on the floor of the hold while the other two wheels are still in contact with the ground to be introduced into the hold; all that is necessary now is to bring up in the rear the other two brackets and when the container is right inside the hold, to lower it to the floor of the hold and then to take off the two rear brackets together with their wheels and to apply them to the wall of the next container ln the embodiment shown in the drawing, each of the worms 13 is connected by a coupling sleeve 15 to the output shaft 16 of a speed reducer 17; the sleeve is fixed by a screw 15a to the shaft 16. The input shaft of this speed reducer is coupled to the shaft of an electric motor 18 the axis of which is shown at 18a; it will be seen that this axis is offset laterally relatively to the axis of the shaft 16 and of the worm 13.

The speed reducer 17 is fast with a clamp 19 which is mounted on an eccentric bearing 20a of a collar 20 and is secured to this collar by means of a screw 21 engaging in a channel 20b of said bearing. The collar 20 itself is mounted on an upwardly extending rod 22 the enlarged head 22a of which is welded to a small plate 23 secured by screws 24 to a skirt member 25. This latter is fixed to the bracket 3 so that the rod 22 is coaxial with the axis 12.

During the installation of the motor and speed reducing assembly, the collar 20 is rotated so that when the bracket is in its lowermost position relative to the support 8, the part of the casing of the speed reducer 17 which is coaxial with the worm does not rub against the rack bar 14, this collar being thereupon fixed in position by tightening the screw 21.

The collar 20 includes two internal longitudinal grooves 200 and two projecting pins 26a and 26b are fixed laterally and diametrally in the rod 22 and are angled in relation to one another; the length of these pins being substantially equal to the spacing apart of the extremities of the respective grooves 20c.

If the motor and speed reducing assembly 17-18 is to be disengaged from the worm 13, it is merely neces sary, after having slackened off the screw 21, to raise said assembly until the worm axle comes clear from the coupling sleeve 15. When the assembly is in its uppermost position. the collar 20 is rotated until the projecting ends of the pin 260 can be passed through the grooves 20c, the collar being then rotated again. Accordingly, the collar comes to rest on the pin 26a thus preventing the speed reducing assembly from being lowered.

If for any reason it is necessary to remove the motor and speed-reducing assembly, the collar is turned so as to enable the projecting ends of the pin 26b to pass through the grooves 200.

The motor 18 is connected to a push-button control panel through a cable 27. Having all the control panels to hand, one operator is able to control simultaneously all the motors 18, which ensures that the load can be raised and lowered while in a perfectly horizontal position.

I claim:

1. Load-handling appliance comprising a plurality of mobile assemblies adapted to be secured to the load, each assembly including:

a bracket;

a vertical axle fast with the load about which the bracket can swivel and along which the bracket can slide;

means for securing said bracket to said axle against said sliding movement;

a worm gear;

a sleeve paralled with said vertical axle, attached to and adapted to pivot relative to said bracket and to support the worm gear;

a rack bar for engagement with the worm gear;

a support member slidably mounted in said sleeve and being fast with the rack bar,

an electric motor speed-reducer assembly having an output shaft to which the worm gear is coupled;

an eccentric collar secured to said motor speedreducer assembly,

pivot means mounted on said bracket and supporting said eccentric collar for pivotal movement about an axis which is coaxial with the pivotal axis of the sleeve relative to the brackets, and

a coupling sleeve connecting said worm and said output shaft, said pivot means including an extension upon which said eccentric collar is slidably mounted, said extension including means for locking the collar in an upper and lower position thereof on said extension.

2. Load-handling appliance according to claim 1. wherein said output shaft is offset laterally relatively to an input shaft of the speed-reducer assembly and is coupled directly with the worm.

3. Load-handling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said means for locking the collar comprises a pin fixed diametrally across the pivot means and adapted to pass through two longitudinal grooves provided in the eccentric collar when the collar is rotated into position in which the pin is aligned with said grooves. 

1. Load-handling appliance comprising a plurality of mobile assemblies adapted to be secured to the load, each assembly including: a bracket; a vertical axle fast with the load about which the bracket can swivel and along which the bracket can slide; means for securing said bracket to said axle against said sliding movement; a worm gear; a sleeve paralled with said vertical axle, attached to and adapted to pivot relative to said bracket and to support the worm gear; a rack bar for engagement with the worm gear; a support member slidably mounted in said sleeve and being fast with the rack bar, an electric motor speed-reducer assembly having an output shaft to which the worm gear is coupled; an eccentric collar secured to said motor speed-reducer assembly, pivot means mounted on said bracket and supporting said eccentric collar for pivotal movement about an axis which is coaxial with the pivotal axis of the sleeve relative to the brackets, and a coupling sleeve connecting said worm and said output shaft, said pivot means including an extension upon which said eccentric collar is slidably mounted, said extension including means for locking the collar in an upper and lower position thereof on said extension.
 1. Load-handling appliance comprising a plurality of mobile assemblies adapted to be secured to the load, each assembly including: a bracket; a vertical axle fast with the load about which the bracket can swivel and along which the bracket can slide; means for securing said bracket to said axle against said sliding movement; a worm gear; a sleeve paralled with said vertical axle, attached to and adapted to pivot relative to said bracket and to support the worm gear; a rack bar for engagement with the worm gear; a support member slidably mounted in said sleeve and being fast with the rack bar, an electric motor speed-reducer assembly having an output shaft to which the worm gear is coupled; an eccentric collar secured to said motor speed-reducer assembly, pivot means mounted on said bracket and supporting said eccentric collar for pivotal movement about an axis which is coaxial with the pivotal axis of the sleeve relative to the brackets, and a coupling sleeve connecting said worm and said output shaft, said pivot means including an extension upon which said eccentric collar is slidably mounted, said extension including means for locking the collar in an upper and lower position thereof on said extension.
 2. Load-handling appliance according to claim 1, wherein said output shaft is offset laterally relatively to an input shaft of the speed-reducer assembly and is coupled directly witH the worm. 